Inventors have expended great efforts over the years in their efforts to obtain an optimal tuning system for use with stringed musical instruments, such as guitars. These efforts are indicative of the need for improvement in this field. One particularly significant improvement was developed by the same inventor of the present invention and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,760. The disclosure in the '760 patent includes, among other improvements, a "convergence" tuning system where harmonic tuning and pitch tuning can be simultaneously and easily obtained by a user of the guitar.
Standard guitars typically include six strings corresponding to the musical notes E, A, D, G, B and E. Guitar strings are placed under tension and extend at a substantially constant height above a fretboard mounted on the neck and the guitar body. In order to produce the sounds associated with the musical notes, the strings are placed in contact with two critical contact points. The first critical contact point is generally at the nut of the instrument, which is usually arranged on the guitar neck adjacent to the first fret of the fretboard. The second critical contact point is generally at the bridge of the instrument, which is provided on an opposing end of the fretboard on the body of the instrument. The strings are fixed at a distance beyond the critical contact points at the nut and bridge.
As is known to those skilled in the stringed instrument art the sound produced by the strings is affected by the harmonic length (i.e., the distance between where the strings contact the critical contact points at the nut and the bridge). Except for the guitar disclosed in the '760 patent, and in certain other patents obtained by the inventor herein, which have cumulative disclosures to the '760 patent, harmonic tuning of the strings has been a difficult process which needed to be performed by a professional. Harmonic tuning is accomplished by adjusting the distance between the critical contact points at the nut and bridge of the guitar.
The tension of the strings is a second factor which significantly affects the tone. String tension may be adjusted by tightening or loosening the string at the nut or bridge end of the guitar. Adjustment of the tension in the strings affects the pitch thereof and is commonly known as pitch tuning.
Except for the guitar disclosed in the '760 patent, and in certain other patents obtained by the inventor herein, which have cumulative disclosures to the '760 patent, prior art guitars required separate steps for pitch and harmonic tuning. For example, prior art tuning systems require each string of a guitar to be independently pitch and harmonically tuned by adjusting individual tension control elements while the distance between the critical contact points at the nut and the bridge are separately adjusted. In most prior art systems, proper harmonic and pitch tuning is obtained when strings ultimately reach a tuned state after many individual adjustments of separate tensioning and distance modifying controls.
Even in the improved guitar disclosed in the '760 patent, the bridge assembly does not include a force conversion device which converts nonlongitudinal forces (such as rotational, vertical and angular forces) into longitudinal forces to effect slidable movement of one or more saddle members arranged on a bridge assembly. The present invention addresses this need.
When using electric guitars, it is desirable to use pick-ups which include magneto-electro transducer elements designed to detect vibrations in associated guitar strings. Certain sophisticated guitar players demand the ability to adjust various aspects of their guitar including the arrangement of pick-ups with respect to the strings. Although prior art inventors have exerted efforts to create movable pick-up systems, all such prior art systems have drawbacks. No prior art system includes a mechanical control assembly, which allows a user to easily adjust the location of pick-ups to a desired position.
The prior art also fails to disclose or teach a guitar including a pick-up assembly having covers arranged on the guitar body over a slidable pick-up assembly and beneath associated strings where the cover extends substantially parallel to the surface of the guitar body.
Tremolos or vibratos are well known devices that are typically used with electric guitars to simultaneously and significantly either reduce or increase the tension of the strings of the guitar so that a desired variation in tone is obtained. Significant improvements in tremolo devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,171,661; 4,967,631; 4,497,236; and 4,882,967, all of which have been issued to the inventor of the present invention. Prior art tremolo systems typically include a raised tremolo arm which extends substantially above the surface of the guitar body. No prior art system discloses the use of a tremolo having a plate which extends substantially flush with the surface of the body of the guitar.
Another aspect of the present invention which is not disclosed in the prior art relates to a neck which is releasably and adjustably mounted on a guitar body. Sophisticated guitar players may wish to customize the action of the strings with respect to the fretboard for their own liking. This may involve adjusting the strings in any of three dimensions including the height of all of the strings on the fretboard, and the side-to-side alignment of the strings with respect to the fretboard (e.g., most guitar players prefer the strings to be centered on the fretboard, but with the low and high strings at different heights from the surface of the fretboard). Prior art guitars do not provide the user with the ability to customize the action of the strings based on a readily adjustable arrangement between the neck and the body, where the neck can be removed and replaced during travel and storage without modifying the previously customized setting.
There is also a need for a guitar, or other stringed instrument, which includes a modular headstock. While efforts have been made to develop readily removable and replaceable headstocks for guitars, the prior art fails to teach a system which includes removable head stocks where one headstock does not include tuning pegs, but the other head stock does.
The present invention addresses the shortcomings of the prior art by providing an improved stringed instrument, such as a guitar, which fills the foregoing needs.